I thought GT USA had gone under as well as/rather than Schwinn/GT Europe...

So who is designing these taiwanese built GTs that Hot Wheels are importing?

Schwinn/GT USA were bought by Pacific Cycles earlier this year. Pacific Cycles also own Mongoose.

The manufacturing will be done at the same factories as it always was.

Pacific? I seem to remember some rather nasty Pacific bikes circa 1992...

Hot Wheels always amaze me, they've got a relatively small shop front, that is almost exclusively bmx and skate and yet this fronts a pretty damn big distributor...

Just goes to show, you shouldn't judge a fat lass, by how much she sweats...

Pacififc were big on elevated chainstays I think. Infact I still have an ad in a 1991 MBI "Ride Guide". Nasty graphics if I remember correctly ....

even though GT went "bust", they were still operating their offices, the American judge released funds to pay staff salaries during this period. They retained their design staff who had pretty much designed the 2002/03 range before Gt went bust.

going bust just means that the people you owe money to probably won't get it (including Steve Peat). Your business just stops at that point and the liquidators sort out all the funds (i.e., they spend all the assets on paying themselves their fees).

If anybody wants to continue the business (and Pacific wouldn't have paid $80m if they didn't) they just start again from scratch. Yes they might use the same factories etc, but the fact is that GT was losing shed loads of money, so Pacific aren't likely to want to carry on with the same strategy as before. They have already announced that they will concentrate on the lower end of the market with GT, but this new strategy presumably won't take effect before 2003 at the earliest as the 2002 production must have been on the stocks already.

anyway, does this mean that i'll be able to get spares (like the i drive bit) for the second hand i drive i'm getting?

it would be extremely unlikely that Pacific paid $80m for the assets without buying the existing stock of spares. Even if Pacific didn't buy them, somebody must have. Whoever now owns them (and the rights to amnufacture more if need be) has paid for them and will have done so in the expectation of selling them at a profit.

So basically yes, if there's any profit in it.

This is the way business works. There's nothing special about a bicycle company.

ahh, good good.

hope they manage to get something sorted as I am still waiting after 8 months
for my gt i drive replacement for the 2nd time.
Yep thats right the usual seat post weld problem let me know if anyone has experianced
the dreaded hairline crack.
I will have forgoten how to ride if I ever get my warranty replacement ?
Thanks jase

doh, trying to get a warranty replacement while the company goes bust...

i hope you get a new one, but i have a nasty suspicion you are counted as a debt that gets cancelled upon bankrupcy.

afraid so, as soon as the administrators come in its a new company, no old contracts or warranties are binding. So if you DO get a new frame it'll be goodwill, and IMHO unlikely as Pacific are going to concentrate on the sub $500 market so theres little to be gained by keeping you happy.

I got my I drive half price a year or so ago so if the frame does get trashed I'll not be TOO upset as the parts were worth the expense.

jason, your warranty isn't the responsibility of GT, your "contract" (i.e. you bought a frame and have a receipt) is between you and the bike shop you purchased your I-drive from. It the bike shop's responsbility to sort out your new frame, at their cost if they cannot a new frame from GT.

If they try to tell you that GT won't honour the warranty and so can't supply, go see Citizens Advice Bureau.

This is why shops are careful about stocking bike brands, they need to be assured that faulty frames won't end up costing them money, to this end they check warranty details with manufacturer before deciding to stock their product.

It's true that your contract is with the shop, but i'm not 100% sure about the warantee... I guess that does go through the shop as part of that, which is why you're supposed to get your dealer to send the frame back rather than doing it direct. I would guess your LBS is likely to be very unwilling to pay for a new frame out of their own pockets, and you're likely to have to apply considerable pressure to get them to stop telling you they're still waiting for it back from GT, and give you a replacement frame.

WRT the whole bankruptcy thing, did GT actually go properly bankrupt or did they go into Chapter 11? The US has this nifty thing called Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection whereby the business has all its assets frozen and nobody can make claims against them, but they can carry on working essentially as normal. While in Chapter 11 they work out how to pay all their creditors etc and then it gets sorted and normal service is resumed. I used to work for a co. that was in chapter 11 and it was just like normal...
BTW I think the supply chain disruption mentioned by Hot Wheels was more likely to be the long overdue collapse of Caratti, was it not?

Caroline, whilst not having first experience I belive chapter 11 is the same as receivership here, the company is taken over by accountants and attempts made to pay creditors and employees, but if youre owed money/goods you get to the back of the queue behind corporate creditors like banks. Once the debts are "settled" the company can be sold and the new owners.

The Bikes-UK chain of motorcycle dealers, and M+P a chain of motorcycle spares shops have both gone into receivership here in the UK. the shops are running as normal but anyone who paid a deposit on a bike, or paid for a servicing contract (identical to a warranty) is S.O.L to borrow a yank expression, they have to wait and see if theyll get paid a penny. The shops are slowly being sold on, and the positive about chapter 11/receivership is it allows the business to be sold as a going concern.

But jason is still unlikely to get a new frame courtesy of GT because Pacific have no contract or obligation with GTs old creditors.

I Just got a new GT Could this be a problem

Hrm doesnt sound good :(
Just got me a 2001 Schwinn Straight 8 and (should the worst happen) and i need spares how am i gonna get hold of any??

Argh. Moore Large and Co who now import Schwinn (so i was lead to believe) said 'what bikes that then...?' when i said what i had, uselss bunch of numpties.